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The winter rains bringing welcoming moisture to our yards and gardens, but too much of a good thing can be just as harmful as none at all. Now is the time to keep an eye on your gardens and look for signs of water overload.

If you’re not a gardener, it can be a little difficult to get excited about the winter rains. But for gardeners, it’s the best time of the year.

Our winter vegetables and landscape plants are deluged with water that we tend to scrimp on the rest of the year. Buds, not yet open, start popping up on barren tree branches, and our California natives seem to dance into bloom and growth.

Of course, too much of a good thing can be harmful, so here are some things to watch out for:

In heavy storms, or even light ones that go on for a significant period, the soil can become oversaturated. Plants need oxygen in the soil, and if those pockets fill with water, the plants can’t breathe. There’s not much you can do while the soil is wet except dig small channels to allow the water to drain away from plants.

When the soil has dried out some, work in organic matter — compost, wood shavings, mulch — to help absorb the water and improve air flow.

If you have clay soil, as most of us do, don’t try digging when the ground is overly wet. You will create hard clods of soil that will be difficult to break up when they dry out.

If you have good drainage and think you’re in the clear, be sure to check your potted plants. Pots fill quickly with even just a little rainfall. Make sure the pots have drainage holes, and set them up off the ground or surface to better increase the draining.

Joan Morris is the pets & wildlife columnist for the Bay Area News Group. She also writes about gardening and is the founder of Our Garden, a demonstration garden in Walnut Creek. Morris started her career in 1978 as a reporter for a small New Mexico newspaper. She has lived in the Bay Area since 1988.

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